


Danny At the End of the World

by Cattraine



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-31
Updated: 2011-10-31
Packaged: 2017-10-25 03:16:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/271142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cattraine/pseuds/Cattraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny was awakened by the continuous pounding on the steel door to the roof.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Danny At the End of the World

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe a beginning. Maybe not.

Danny was awakened by the continuous pounding on the steel door to the roof. He sat up with a sigh and rubbed his hands over his rough, unshaven face. The fucking groans and moans never stopped. The undead were persistent fuckers, he had to give them that. He levered himself up stiffly from the folded tarp he was lying on and limped around, trying to restore circulation. His bad knee was still swollen and stiff, he could barely bend it. He limped over and took a piss off the edge of the roof, surveying the area around him as he did.

From here he could see smoke from the fires along Ala Moana avenue. He couldn’t hear any screams or helicopters anymore though, so it looked like the army had given up searching for survivors for the time being. He wasn’t surprised. No one wanted to risk infection. It was a wonder that the military hadn’t bombed Honolulu into the ocean yet.

He was really glad that Rachel and Stan had taken Grace off on a European vacation last month. The virus hadn’t reached England, the last he’d heard, so they should be safe. The Brits had been smart and locked down travel to and from the island. He hoped Steve and Chin and Kono were safe as well. Now he had a pretty good idea why Steve had suddenly been deployed on a super secret mission last month. Danny hoped that wherever he was, he was alive. At least Danny had managed to get Kono on that last evac helicopter before that fat bastard crowding in ahead of them had panicked and kicked Danny off during takeoff.

He looked ten stories down along the winding street. No signs of anyone alive. At least he didn’t have to watch some poor, terrified bastard pulled down and ripped apart and devoured today. He had spent almost all of the ammunition for Kono’s rifle trying to save people trying to flee the ravenous horde, the past few days. All he could see now were the infected as they shambled and crawled along searching for prey. He was on the roof of one of the smaller hotels off the main drag. He couldn’t remember the name of the place, he had been too busy fighting his way up the stairs to the roof with a half-conscious Kono in his arms, and a small group of terrified civilians.

The helicopter had taken most of them, but since there hadn’t been a second attempt at pick-up, he didn’t know if it made it to safety or if he and the few remaining civilians had been abandoned as a liability. The three young men left with him had made a run for it two days ago--deciding against his advice-- to fight their way down and out of the hotel. Danny would remember their blood chilling screams as the undead pulled them down in the stairwell below and tore them apart for the rest of his life.

He licked his dry lips and limped back to the side of the roof hatch and air conditioner where his meager supplies were stashed. The guys had left him what provisions they had when they ran for it, but they weren’t much, basically a nylon backpack that held several bottles of water, a couple of pieces of fruit and a handful of power bars. Danny had one full bottle of water and two fruit bars left. He’d rigged up a tarp he’d found on the roof to funnel rainwater into a plastic bucket, left over from roof repairs, but basically he was fucked. Even if he reached the street, he could barely walk, much less run.

He had watched enviously from the roof as people took to the ocean to escape, using everything from boats to surf boards. He hoped the surfers made it to the relative safety of one of the big Navy ships off shore. It was too damned bad he didn’t have any means to send out a signal. Cell coverage since the outbreak had been erratic at best and nonexistent most of the time. Daniel Williams could indeed swim for survival—if only he had a way to get to the water without becoming zombie bait---and quite frankly, he preferred taking his chances with the sharks as opposed to the hungry dead.

It was going to be another hot day. He wished he had enough water to spare to at least wash his face and hands. He stank of old blood. His once pristine white cotton shirt was gore splattered and sweat stained. He had unbuttoned it, but did not remove it. He was already sunburned and peeling. He followed the shade of the humming air conditioning unit during the day as the sun moved, trying to avoid sunstroke. The last couple of rain showers had been brief and he had not collected much water, or been able to wash well. He squinted up at the bright sun.

Just another day in this tropical zombie paradise.

\--------------------------------------

Five--or was it six?-- days later, he knew he didn’t have long. He was dizzy and dehydrated and his food was long gone, and he had collected a bare inch of water in the rain bucket, which he had poured off into his water bottle and drank down slowly, savoring the sips of brackish liquid. The sight of the ocean---all that undrinkable water so close, was a torment.

He had used the remaining battery power on his cell to text his goodbyes to Grace and Steve. He sat in the meager shade by the roof hatch and contemplated the best way to go. Suicide by gun or zombie? He shuddered at the thought of just opening the door to the roof. No, just no. Hell no, in fact. Daniel Williams had no desire to end his life as a zombie Happy Meal.

He contemplated the weapons he had. His sidearm had two bullets left, but Kono’s rifle had half a clip. He had thought about using the rest of the clip to snipe zombies, but had decided against it. Some of the creatures shambling along the streets and sidewalk below were beyond pitiful. Little children, elderly ladies, and young teens who had lived for the beach and died there as well. They had all once been human beings with hopes and dreams and people who loved them, and it wasn’t Danny’s place to play executioner unless it was to protect himself or others.

He set the rifle aside. Maybe someone would be able to use it later. Okay, so it was up to his faithful Heckler and Koch P30. He checked it, making sure there was a round in the chamber, then stood dizzily for one last stroll around the roof. He limped a slow circle around the edge, breathing in the fresh salt air from the ocean. He was high enough above the ground so that he only caught an occasional waft of rot from below, and they could not scent him.

There were some awesome waves out there today. Maybe Grace and Steve would be able to surf here again someday. He hoped so with all his heart. He knew that if Steve survived, he would always look after Grace for Danny. He wiped his face. It was so damned hot here on the roof, the tropical sun beating down and reflecting off the gravel. Heat spots danced in front of his eyes and he shakily tried to wipe them away. He would be hallucinating soon, if he didn’t end it now.

Okay, time to man up and do this right, before he passed out and keeled over off the roof and splatted on top of some undead guy. As he shakily raised the gun to his temple for a clean headshot and stared out at the perfect blue waves rolling in on the beach, he thought he heard the rumble of distant thunder.

\--------------------------------------

Steve leaned as far out the door of the helicopter as his harness allowed, eyes scanning the rooftops.

He had made it home and spent the last three days frantically searching for his scattered ohana. He had finally located Chin and a badly concussed Kono at the heavily barricaded Queen’s Medical. Lori had fallen in the first onslaught. When the undead horde had stormed the Governor’s office, she had died protecting her boss, giving the man time enough to escape.

Steve had been horrified to learn that Danny had been hurt and left behind on a roof downtown almost ten days ago—where exactly, Kono could not remember. Chin nearly had to sit on her to keep her in her hospital bed and keep her from leaving the safety of the hospital to find Danny herself. McGarrett had immediately collected his SEAL team and commandeered a Navy Seahawk SH-60 helicopter.

They skimmed along the roofs along Ala Moana Boulevard and veered over Hotel row. This part of Honolulu was heavily infested with the infected. Large groups of them roamed the streets. Shocked, unprepared tourists made easy prey. Steve made note of any survivors he saw barricaded into apartments, hotel suites, or perched on roofs, while one of his men radioed the locations to base for a later pick-up. The military was finally beginning to regain control of the islands and were dropping supplies to survivors they could not rescue immediately.

The thought of losing Danny was unthinkable to him. They had only recently begun to tentatively explore the chemistry between them, moving slowly into a relationship dance that went beyond their work partnership. They had both been overly cautious, Danny because he had been burned once too often at love, and Steve because he really didn’t want to fuck things up in the first important relationship of his life. Danny was too important to him.

His musings were interrupted by the crackle of his headset, as his SIC beside him, nudged his arm and spoke.

“Sir! The hotel roof coming up below. Is that him?”

Steve craned his neck to see, and his heart nearly stopped at the sight of the small, disheveled figure standing forlornly at the edge of the roof of a mid sized hotel, and as he realized exactly what he was seeing.

“Take us down! Take us down _now_!”

The Seahawk dipped lightly down to land on the vacant expanse of roof and Steve had unclipped himself, prepared to jump down, when his SIC stopped him with a hand on his elbow.

“Sir! Are you sure he’s not infected? Look at him, he looks bad.”

Steve shrugged him off and dropped the last few feet to the roof, ducking low under the chopper blades and running towards the man standing at the edge of the roof, gun in hand. He didn’t give a damn if Danny was infected or not; either way Steve would take care of him. He slowed and stopped a few feet from his partner, taking in his battered appearance.

Danny was just standing silently, staring blankly at him. His hair was an unruly mess and his once white shirt was caked with dried blood. Steve couldn’t tell if it was Danny’s blood or not. He was sunburned, unshaven and swaying slightly in place, with his pale, blue eyes locked on Steve’s face. The remains of an ugly, blue black bruise mottled half his face. Kono had said that he had been kicked off the evac chopper. For one frozen moment, Steve couldn’t read him, couldn’t tell if he was alive and/or in his right mind.

“Danno? Danny, I came back. It’s going to be okay now, D.”

Danny tilted his head, staring silently at him, gun still held casually in his hand. Steve bit his lip and prayed silently for the first time in years God, no, please, no. Let him be all right. Because it was hard to tell in the early stages of infection; a person acted the same, but then slowly became something other, as conscience vanished into unending hunger, becoming something cannibalistic and undead.

“Steve?”

It was a hoarse croak and Danny reached jerkily out, hand faltering and dropping, as though he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Relieved, Steve stepped forward and engulfed him in an embrace, hauling him in and holding him close, even as he neatly relieved Danny of the gun and carefully tucked it in the back of his own belt. The infected lost the ability to speak early on in the course of the disease. Danny stank of sweat and old blood, and his compact body was hot to the touch. Steve wondered how long he had been without water.

Danny was still staring up at him, bemused, palms pressed to Steve’s Tac vest, a look of wonder on his face. One hand patted Steve’s chest, hesitantly.

“It really is you. You came back for me.” His voice was a hoarse rasp.

Steve hugged him closer, pressed his forehead to Danny’s, blinked back tears and spoke fiercely.

“I will always come back for you Danny. As long as I am alive, I will never willingly leave you.”

He lifted his head and smiled down into his partner’s dazed, wondering eyes.

“Come on D, let’s get out of here.”

\--------------------------------------

NFO Karen Pearson lifted the chopper and piloted it back towards Queen’s Medical. Queen’s was one of the largest fortified ‘safe’ places on Oahu. There were several others: the bases at Pearl and Hickam, one of the university libraries and oddly enough, the Waiawa correctional facility. Slowly, the living were reclaiming their island.

Fortunately the outbreaks on the neighboring islands had been much smaller and more easily contained. Survivors on Oahu were now being transported there for safety until the outbreak could brought safely under control and the undead destroyed. She was glad that Commander McGarrett had located his partner. They had been finding fewer survivors in the past few days, but at least the number of the undead appeared to be dwindling as well.

She glanced in the back of the chopper. The Commander sat with his back against the bulkhead, his partner seated between his legs, leaning back against his chest. The blond was thirstily gulping down a bottle of water, while the Commander gently wiped the smaller man’s battered face and grimy hands clean with a damp cloth. The medical corpsman hovered nearby with the med kit, but apparently the detective was fine except for sunburn, dehydration and a badly twisted knee.

Smiling, she turned the chopper back towards safety. They had a lot of work yet to do, but the tide had turned and now there was at least hope.


End file.
